Day 7 | Miranda Riffle

Today was our very last day in Haiti and I am very sad to leave. The week was amazing and we met so many fun and memorable people here. I think one of our translates (the one in the last video) was one of the most faithful people I have ever met…no matter what the subject was he was able to link it to Jesus or a scripture/story in the bible. He even had us screaming “God is good all the time, all the time God is good’ off the dump truck this morning after the house dedication. The family that we built the house for was very grateful, the father and mother thanked us multiple times throughout the week and the service this morning. It was a major blessing to get to help them. Being here we learned what simple life looked like and what depending on God for everything looked like, and it makes me hesitate to want to return to the U.S. and my chaotic life there. I am excited to be able to come home but at the same time I have come to appreciate and respect these people and their lifestyle so much. I am truly thankful that I have had the opportunity to get to meet them, laugh with them, play with them and have the memories. Overall, this week was one of the best weeks of my life and it could not have come at a better time for me. God’s timing in this trip and the people that I was surrounded by was truly amazing and I am just happy that I was able to share all of the blessings I have with others who truly need it, yet wish many blessings upon us. I sincerely hope to return here and tomorrow morning will be very hard. Thank you to everyone who kept us in your thoughts and prayers, I don’t think we could've asked for a more successful, fun or chaotic week.

Day 6 | Miranda Riffle

Today was our last official day of work and we finished the house for the family and it looked great. I was the only girl in the house group today, which was interesting… but I also got to play with some children while all the guys worked. At one point in time I had about 8 children trying to catch the bubbles that I was blowing—they were screaming and laughing trying to catch them, it was great. Dad and Bryson had a little boy hanging all over them today and he was a cutie—once they tossed him up in the air, it was on and he never left their side the rest of the day. Overall, it was a really great day. We got to see many kids, some of us played ball with them and blew bubbles, they hung all over us and giggled and I even got to sit with our translator and read them a story and link it to how much God loves us just for being us. Today did it for me in reassuring how much I really will miss this place and the people that I have met—the staff that we have worked with and the families and children we have met have made my entire summer and I will be sad to have to leave here.

Day 5 | Miranda Riffle

Today was a very long day. Most of us are exhausted and even getting sick, but we still had a very successful day. I went to the church today and did VBS, and we are happy to report that 7 children got saved today. VBS was a bit of a mess just because there are so many children and we didn’t have enough stuff, but at the end of the day the children had an absolute ball just being around us and playing duck-duck-goose. Jacobi and I discovered today that we are master spooners...and before you take that the wrong way I will tell you that we actually used spoons today to smooth out concrete on the wall, and I got told I was ‘boss’ at It by one of our Haitian workers. Overall, it was a very successful day and we are expecting to finish the family’s home tomorrow which will be exciting. I haven’t decided if I am ready to go home yet…tomorrow will be bittersweet as our last work day. I will be excited to have clean water and electricity but life has been so much better over here, having the time to focus on someone else instead of my stresses, that I know I will dread landing back into the U.S. Also, Hi Aunt Paula, I love you too and I will have all the pictures to show you when we get home.

Day 4 | Miranda Riffle

Today was day four, which was out off day due to it being Sunday. Church this morning was long, but good. The hardest part was trying to keep attention without understanding anything that was being said—the one thing that was easy for us to pick up on was how often they thanked and praised Jesus. It was pretty cool to listen to them sing as well, and they were really good. After church some of us napped and I got woke up to go on the hike. All I have to say about the hike is NEVER AGAIN. We apparently went on one of the hardest trails and had multiple near death experiences—I learned real quick that my tennis shoes are not good for hiking up the side of mountains. Overall the hike was exhausting and I got bit the most (it looks like I have chicken pox), but it was very pretty. The waterfalls we got to see were awesome and we even got to witness people washing their clothes and cutting their gardens—everyone was very friendly and told us ‘Good afternoon’ as we went by. I am pretty sure that some of them were laughing at us (me) as well because man, am I out of shape but that’s okay. I will be sore tomorrow but I got some good pictures, can now say I survived a hike in Haiti and got the opportunity to see all of the beauty that God has created. Tomorrow will be a new day of new of bumps and bruises (hopefully no more bites) but I can’t wait to see the finished product of our work as we get closer each day!

Day 3 | Miranda Riffle

Today I was part of the group that had to venture out to the church that is on the side of a mountain..and when we say its on the the side of the a mountain we are NOT exaggerating. Take a second to imagine standing in the back of a truck, holding on for dear life for an hour and a half, driving up hill on rocks, and then you will understand what we all of us are going through to get to this church. The amazing part though is that we still find time to laugh and joke regardless of how exhausted we are. When we arrived at the site a few of us got the opportunity to interact with a group of the children and it is just amazing how content all of these children are with the smallest things. Madison and I helped a few little girls blow bubbles, while teaching them the words ‘bubbles’ and ‘pop!’ and they all it took was us saying these two words back and forth with them to make them burst out in giggles. Today was the first day that I had really got to interact with any of the children and it was an awesome, yet sad experience. All of these children loved being around us so much, that when we had to stop playing to work they all jumped in to help us collect rocks..big rocks and would even take them out of our hands and take them to the church for us; keep in mind these children were anywhere from 2-8 years old and they felt the need to take the rocks out of OUR hands and carry them FOR us. This part of the day stuck out to me the most I think because it made it so clear how grateful they are that we are here even at such a young age—so grateful that they have absolutely nothing compared to what we have and they still insist on taking on the work that we specifically traveled all this way to do. Tomorrow we get to take the day off (thank goodness because I will be SORE) and go to their church service, everyone has had many positive things to say so I am excited to get to experience worshiping Christ the way that they do. Keep us in your thoughts, things have been great and successful so far :)

Day 2 | Miranda Riffle

Today was the first day of work and needless to say it was a very long day. My group was at the house building site where our two main jobs were hauling cinder blocks to the site (which thankfully wasn’t far) and sifting sand. I was the block stacker and Madison and I became champion shifters—we even learned the Haitian way of throwing out the excess rocks. After we had learned how, we wished that someone would have taught us sooner because we got so much more sand sifted. My hopes were to have six pack abs by the end, but I think I’m just going to be extremely sore instead. Overall, we had a really great time. The work was tough but once we got a system going for everything, it flew by. Bill, Shane, Chase and my dad even THREW blocks to each other, they got video footage because Bill doesn’t think anyone will believe that they did it the way the Haitians were. One of our Translators was very talkative and Madison and I ended up learning a lot about the culture/people just by asking him questions—his humor also helped time fly by, fast. The family that we are building the house for seemed very grateful and the father shook all of hands before we left. Keep these families and our groups in your prayers as the week continues… Day one was already a hard one, not only due to the physical work but to have to see the hardships that some of these families have to face and how grateful they are to have so little. Day one was already the beginning of a humble experience for me, and I look forward to the rest of the week.

Day 1 | Miranda Riffle

Today was a long day... mainly because this is my first trip out of the country and my first time flying (that I can remember). The flight wasn’t bad; I think my least favorite part was landing because I don’t know if anything likes to feel like you are falling out of the sky, but I certainly do not. Getting to the compound was probably the most interesting part just because we got to see the culture, the people and the scenery all in one trip. I don’t want to say that I had an idea of what Haiti was going to be like, because I really didn’t but at the same time nothing was as I expected… in a good way. After arriving we spent our evening relaxing, interacting with some of the children and discussing what our week may look like, I don’t think we even really know haha. It’s been awhile since I have been on a mission trip and I can honestly say that I think this is going to kick my butt but oddly enough, I am excited for it—it’s always a good feeling to know that regardless of how hard the challenge may seem on these trips, you are always blessing someone else somehow. I think the part that I am looking forward to the most is VBS—after seeing the smiles that were on a some of the children’s faces from the playing on the Ark that was built last trip, I am looking forward to seeing their smiles during VBS and when we get the chance to teach them something new, like jumping rope or tossing a football. It’s going to be a hard week so please keep us in your thoughts, and hopefully things go (somewhat) smooth!

Day 7 | Miranda Riffle

So far, this week has been amazing. This being my second year in Montana, i once again do not want to leave. VBS had been a great success and interacting with the kids has to be the best part of being here. All the jobs got finished earlier, like always and everyone ended up all working on the house we were adding too which was pure chaos of course with everyone fighting over tools and hiding them so the others wouldn't steal them. But overall, Callie, Erin, Nicole and I (somewhat Andrew) rocked at putting siding on that house. I have to admit that though everyday has been brutally hot, everyone has completely enjoyed being here, spending time with each other and working for the glory of God. Time here on the reservation is amazing, and though it shouldn't because we've done our work, i am certainly sad that this is our last night. We all worked hard, and have become quite close and though i do miss home and friends and family, i don't think i would leave this place in at least 2 weeks. Or maybe never.

Day 2 | Miranda Riffle

Today was an unusually fast day. All of the van actually ended up sleeping about half the way. What time we did spend awake, was rather interesting. Myself and Callie being on a van with all guys excluding Marcy. We ended up playing a letter game (that we made up as we went, I may add) which turned out to be quite entertaining, even Mickey played. Haha. I am veryyy excited to get to Montana tomorrow and i cant wait to start working, for the four (short) days we have.